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Umonhon Tribal Government: Then and Now

Missouri River on the Reservation Jeff Mohr OTHRP Archives

Omaha Tribal Historical Research Project, Inc.

Mission Statement

T

he purposes for which the corporation is organized is to promote, encourage,
and conduct research regarding the history, heritage, language, religion and
other aspects of the culture of Umonhon (Omaha) Indian people for the purposes of
encouraging the preservation of materials and the information collected and perpetuating the Omaha culture and traditions, and to serve as an educational resource for Omaha people and other people who may be interested in the culture
and traditions of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska.
FOR 26 YEARS OTHRP SERVED WITH AN UNFUNDED MANDATE AS THE OFFICAL CULTURAL AUTHORITY IN
PERPETUITY BY TRIBAL RESOLUTION FOR THE OMAHA TRIBE OF NEBRASKA AND IOWA
WARRIOR SONG [Umonhon]
No one has found a way to avoid death,
To pass around it;
Those old men who have met it,
Who have reached the place where death stands waiting,
Have not pointed out a way to circumvent it.
Death is difficult to face.
— OTHRP Archives
The Umonhon and the Oglala danced a peace treaty in 1791-1792
— Cloud-Shield's winter count
This booklet has been taken directly from the forthcoming:
Umonhon Cultural Anthology
Copyright©2016 Omaha Tribal Historical Research Project, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

Dancing the way to Peace

Umonhon Government: Then and Now
Copyright©2016 Omaha Tribal Historical Research Project, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
P.O. Box 279 — Rosalie, NE 68055
402-846-5454
othrp@yahoo.com <jackalopearts.org>
1

Dancing the way to Peace
Umonhon Tribal Government: Then and Now

Introduction

T

he Umonhon, a sovereign Indigenous People of the Americas, are one of the most documented Aboriginal People of the North American Continent. Starting with French traders in
the 17th Century and prominently noted in the 1804-06 Corps of Discovery Military Expedition
of Lewis and Clark, which documented the He'dewachi Harvest celebration, the Omaha have
been consistently spoken of in both Euro-American scholarly and historic literature.
While many rituals and much of the ancestral practice has been lost due to diseases, wars and
cultural genocide, enough has survived to be able to restructure and rebuild a successful way
of life from the past into a new modern, uniquely Umonhon Nation of the 21st Century.
The current mode of tribal government does not work for the people. A few tribal families dominate and the majority's needs are not addressed. Why? An imposed Federal system based
upon and controlled by the United States Government, which, after a mere 240 years, is collapsing from the same problems that were built into both the U.S. and tribal infrastructures.
Flawed from the beginning, this system creates inequality. While both the Continental Congress
and later U.S. Constitution itself used as a model the Law of Great Peace of the Six Nations
Confederacy — the U.S. Congress acknowledged as such in 1988 — the Americans had left out
two vital parts: abolition of slavery and equality for women. This tipped the balance to the white
male landowners, who later provided landless white males parcels through the Homestead Act
to move up the system and the middle class was born. All others were forced into poverty.
The U.S. Constitution also took much of its content from earlier European governmental and
legal systems which date back to antiquity, dealing primarily with economic issues. This is how
Capitalism originated, and the resultant practice and the inequitable policies it follows kept
much of the failed concepts with it. Ultimately capitalism created class systems where a few
become fabulously wealthy while the vast majority is forced into a peasant or poverty class.
A system based upon creating "Value" automatically creates No-Value as a by-product. A system based instead on “Nurture” serves all the people. It is the exact reverse of Capitalism.
The second flaw “in the ways of governance” imposed by Euro-Americans upon tribal people is
a small book called Robert's Rules of Order, which lays out a voting system presented “as the
fairest way to make decisions.” It is not. The structure is highly corruptible and leaves an unhappy minority who is not heard. A much older tribal system called Consensus is far more equitable and creates a united people with no disgruntled minority. That is often what ancestral
tribal government used to solve problems rather to make a profit off of creating problems.
This booklet, based upon OTHRP's works from Umonhon studies over its 40 year existence,
shows the possibility of returning to the original Umonhon government in 21st Century terms.
The following first article is drawn from Fletcher and La Flesche in 1905, [27th Annual Report].
and has been changed from the original. Old-fashioned words and phrases have either been
removed or modernized, such as "gens" and "gentes" replaced with "clan". This is because EuroAmerican scholars emphasize inheritance and distinguish "gens" as patriarchal — "clan entry"
determined by the father's gens — and the term "clan" is then given to the matriarchal tribes
who determine "clan entry" through the mother's clan. Umonhon are considered patriarchal by
this thinking and therefore would be "gens." The Umonhon don't use the word "gens" at all but
instead use "clan,” and inheritance is not distributed according to Euro-American beliefs.
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Umonhon TRIBAL GOVERNMENT
Development of Political Unity

T

he tribal organization of the Omaha and cognates, as it stood in the early part of the nineteenth century, shows that a tendency had existed
toward disintegration because of a lack of close political organizations, and that various expedients for
holding the people together had been tried. This
weakness seems to have been especially felt when
the people were in the buffalo country; groups would
wander away, following the game, and become lost.
Occasionally they were discovered and would rejoin
the main body, as has been shown in the case of the
Hon'ga utanatsi of the Osage tribe. The environment
of the people did not foster sedentary habits, such as
would have tended toward a close political union;
therefore the nature of the country in which these
cognates dwelt added to rather than lessened the
danger of disintegration.
Some form of organization had long existed among
the people, but the frequent separations that took
place emphasized the importance of maintaining the
unity of the tribe, and the problem of devising means
to secure this essential result was a matter of serious concern to the thinking and constructive minds
among the people. The Sacred Legend, already
quoted, says: "And the people thought, How can we
better ourselves?
The ideas fundamental to the tribal organization of
the Omaha and their cognates related to the creation
and perpetuation of living creatures. The expression
of these ideas in the dramatic form of rites seems to
have been early achieved and those which symboliGahi'ge, an Old Umonhon Chief
cally present the connection of cosmic forces with
PL 36, Fletcher/La Flesche, Ibid.
Smithsonian
the birth and well-being of mankind seem to have
persisted in whole or in part throughout the various
experiences of the five cognate tribes, and to have kept an important place in tribal life.
These rites constitute what may be regarded as the lower stratum of religious ceremonies —
for example, in the recognition of the vital relation of the Wind, as shown in the ceremony
of Turning the Child, performed when it entered on its tribal life; in the names bestowed on
females, which generally refer to natural phenomena or objects rather than to religious
observances; in the ceremonies connected with Thunder as the god of war and arbiter of
the life and death of man. There are indications that other rites relating to cosmic forces
have been lost in the passage of years. Among the Omaha certain articles still survive rites
long since disused, as the cedar Pole and the Sacred Shell, both of which were preserved
until recently in the Sacred Tent of War in charge of the We'zhinshte clan. It is probable
that the rites connected with the Sacred Shell were the older and that they once held an
3

important place and exercised a widespread influence in the tribe, as indicated by the reverence and fear with which this object was regarded by the people of every Omaha clan.
Other Omaha rites, as has been shown, have ceased to be observed — those connected
with the thunder, the stars, and the winds. The disappearance of former rites may indicate
physiographic changes experienced by the people, which affected their food supply, avocations, and other phases of life, thereby causing certain rites to be superseded by others
more in harmony with a changed environment. Thus life in the buffalo country naturally
resulted in rites which pertained to hunting the buffalo finally taking precedence over
those which pertained to the cultivation of the maize.
There are indications that under these and other disturbing and disintegrating influences
certain ceremonies were instituted to counteract these tendencies by fostering tribal consciousness in order to help to bind the people together. The Hede'wachi ceremony is of
this character and seems to date far back in the history of the Omaha tribe. It is impossible to trace as in a sequence the growth of the idea of the desirability of political unity, for
there were many influences, religious and secular, at work to bring about modifications of
customs and actual changes in government. The efforts to regulate warfare and to place it
under greater control and at the same time to enhance the honor with which the warrior
was to be regarded seem to have been among the first steps taken toward developing a
definite governing power within the tribe. The act of placing the rites pertaining to war in
charge of one clan was probably the result of combined influences. When this modification of earlier forms was accomplished a new name seems to have been given to the clan
holding this office, and thus the present term We'zhinshte came into use. The former
name of this kinship group is not known, but judging from analogy it probably had reference to one or the other of the lost ceremonies connected with the sacred articles left in
its care. While the segregation of the war power may have tended to stay some of the disintegrating tendencies it did not have the positive unifying force that was desired. If other
devices were tried to bring about this result nothing is known of them.
The Sacred Legend and other accounts tell the story of the way in which a central governing body was finally formed and all agree that it was devised for the purpose of "holding
the people together." One version speaks of seven old men who, while visitors to the tribe,
inaugurated the governing council. The Sacred Legend declares that the council was the
outcome of "thought" and "consultation among the wise old men," their purpose taking
form in the plan to establish a Nini'baton* subdivision in some of the clans, each subdivision to furnish one member to the council, which was to be the governing authority, exercising control over the people, maintaining peace in the tribe, but having no relation to offensive warfare. According to the Legend account of the formation of the Nini'baton, "two
old men," one from the Hon'ga clan and the other from the Inke'çabe clan, were commissioned to carry out the plan of the "wise old men." The term "old" is one of respect and indicates that these men had gained wisdom from experience, and that their plan was the
result of knowledge and thought concerning actual conditions in the past and in the present, rather than one based on speculative notions. The "two old men" were entrusted
with the two Sacred Tribal Pipes; as they passed around the hu'thuga they would stop at a
certain clan, designating a family which was to become a Nini'baton and making this
choice official by the presentation of a pipe. For some unknown reason in this circuit of
*The word nin'baton means "to possess a pipe." The origin of the significant use of the pipe lies in a remote
past. Among the Omaha and cognate tribes the pipe was regarded as a medium by which the breath of man
ascended to Wakon'da through the fragrant smoke and conveyed the prayer or aspiration of the person
smoking; the act also partook of the nature of an oath, an affirmation to attest sincerity and responsibility.
The pipe was a credential known and respected by all.

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the tribe the "old men" passed by the Ingthe'zhide clan and did not give them a pipe. Nor
was a pipe given to the We'zhinshte clan or to the Hon'ga clan. It was explained concerning
these latter omissions that the We'zhinshte had already been given the control of the war
rites of the tribe, while the duties of the council formed from the Nini'baton subdivisions
were to be solely in the interest of peace, and to the Hon'ga clan was to belong the duty of
calling together this governing council.
The two Sacred pipes carried by the "two old men" were their credentials. The authority of
these two pipes must have been of long standing and undisputed by the people in order
to have made it possible for their bearers to inaugurate such an innovation as setting
apart a certain family within a clan and giving it to a new class of duties — duties that
were to be civil and not connected with the established rights of the clans. These new duties did not conflict with any of such rites, nor did they deprive the Nini'bato n families from
participating in them. A new class of obligations to Wakon'da and to all persons composing the tribe were laid upon the Nini'baton and the new council.

Chieftainship

T

he earliest tradition among the Omaha among the Omaha as to the establishment of
chiefs is contained in the story already recounted concerning the formation of the
Nini'baton and governing council, which was to be composed of hereditary chiefs. How
long the hereditary character was maintained and what had previously constituted leadership in the tribe are not known, nor is there any knowledge as to how the change from hereditary to competitive membership in the council came about. It may be that the change
was the result of increasing recognition of the importance of strengthening the power of
the governing council by making it both the source and the goal of tribal honors, thus enhancing its authority and at the same time emphasizing the desirability of tribal unity. All
that the writers have been able to ascertain concerning the change in the composition of
the council from hereditary to competitive membership has been that it took place several
generations ago, how many could not be learned.

Orders of Chiefs

T

he period of the establishment of these orders is lost in the past, but internal evidence seems to point to their formation after the council with its Nini'baton membership had been fully established and accepted by the people.
There were two orders of chiefs, the Ni'kagahi xu'de and the Ni'kagahi sha'be. The name
of the first (ni'kagahi, "chief;" xu'de, "brown") has reference to a uniform color, as of the
brown earth, where all are practically alike, of one hue or rank. The Ni'kagahi xu'de order
was unlimited as to membership, but admittance into it depended upon the consent of
the Ni'kagahi sha'be (ni'kagahi, "chief," sha'be, "dark"). The word sha'be does not refer to
color, but to the appearance of an object raised above the uniform level and seen against
the horizon as a dark object. Men who had risen from the Ni'kagahi xu'de into the limited
order of the Ni'kagahi sha'be were regarded as elevated before the people.

Wathin'ethe: performance of certain acts

E

ntrance into the Ni'kagahi sha'be was possible only when a vacancy occurred, and
then only to a member of the order of Ni'kagahi xu'de after the performance of certain acts known as within'ethe (from wa, "thing having power;" thin, from thin'ge, "nothing;"
the, "to make" or "to cause," the word meaning something done or given for which there is
no material return but through which honor is received). Wathin'ethe stands for acts and
5

gifts which do not directly add to the comfort and wealth of the actor or donor, but which
have relation to the welfare of the tribe by promoting internal order and peace, by providing for the chiefs and keepers, by assuring friendly relations with other tribes; they partook therefore of a public rather than a private character, and while they opened a man's
way to tribal honors and position, they did so by serving the welfare of all the people. Entrance into the order of Ni'kagahi xu'de was through the performance of certain
wathin'ethe; in this instance the gifts of the aspirant were made solely to the Seven Chiefs.
The election of members to the order of Ni'kagahi xu'de took place at a meeting of the
Ni'kagahi sha'be called by the leaders of the Hon'ga clan for this purpose. After the tribal
pipes had been smoked the name of a candidate was mentioned, and his record and the
number and value of his gifts were canvassed. The prescribed articles used in making
these gifts were eagles, eagle war bonnets, quivers (including bows and arrows), catlinite
pipes with ornamented stems, tobacco pouches, otter skins, buffalo robes, ornamented
shirts, and leggings. In olden times, burden-bearing dogs, tents, and pottery were given; in
recent times these have been replaced by horses, guns, blankets, blue and red cloth, silver medals, and copper kettles. It is noteworthy that all the raw materials used in construction, as well as the unmanufactured articles of the early native type, were such as
required of the candidate prowess as a hunter, care in accumulating, and skilled industry.
A man often had to travel far to acquire some of these articles, and be exposed to danger
from enemies in securing and bringing them home, so that they represented, besides industry as a hunter, bravery and skill as a warrior. Moreover, as upon the men devolved
the arduous task of procuring all the meat for food and the pelts used to make clothing,
bedding, and tents, and as there was no common medium of exchange for labor in the
tribe, such as money affords, each household had to provide from the very foundation, so
to speak, every article it used or consumed. It will therefore be seen that persistent work
on the part of a man aspiring to enter the order of chief was necessary, as he must not
only provide food and clothing for the daily use of his family, but accumulate a surplus to
as to obtain leisure for the construction of the articles to be counted as wathin'ethe. The
men made the bows and arrows, the war bonnets, and the pipes; the ornamentation was
the woman's task. Her deft fingers prepared the porcupine quills after her husband or
brother had caught the wary little animals. For the slow task of dyeing the quills and embroidering with them she needed a house well stocked with food and defended from lurking war parties, in order to have time and security for her work. A lazy fellow or an impulsive, improvident man could not acquire the property represented by these gifts. There
was no prescribed number of gifts demanded for entrance into the Xu'de order but they
had to be sufficient to warrant the chiefs in admitting him, for the man once in the order
could, bu persistent industry and care, rise so as to become a candidate for the order of
Sha'be when a vacancy occurred.
When a favorable decision as to the candidate was reached the chiefs arose and followed
the Sacred Pipes, borne reverently, with the stems elevated, by the two leading chiefs.
Thus led, the company walked slowly about the camp to the lodge of the man who had
been elected a Xu'de and paused before the door. At this point the man had the option to
refuse or to accept the honor. If he should say" "I do not wish to become a chief," and
wave away the tribal pipes offered him to smoke, thus refusing permission to the chiefs to
enter his lodge, they would pass on, leaving him as though he had not been elected.
When the man accepted the position he smoked the pipes as they were offered, whereupon the chiefs entered his lodge, bearing the pipes before them, and slowly passed
around his fireplace. This act signified to all the tribe that the man was thenceforth a
chief, a member of the order of Ni'kagahi xu'de. He was now eligible to other honors — all
of which, however, depended upon further efforts on his part.
6

Eligibility to enter the order of Ni'kagahi sha'be depended upon the performance of certain
graded within'ethe. Vacancies occurred only by death or by resignation of very old men. A
vacancy was filled by the one in the Xu'de order who could "count" the most withi n'ethe
given to the chiefs or who had performed the graded acts of the within'ethe. The order and
value of these graded acts were not generally known to the people, nor even to all the
chiefs of the Xu'de. Those who became possessed of this knowledge were apt to keep it
for the benefit of their aspiring kinsmen. The lack of this knowledge, it is said, occasionally
cost a man the loss of an advantage which he would otherwise have had.
There were seven grades of within'ethe the performance of which made a man eligible to a
place in the order of Ni'kagahi sha'be. They ranked as follows
First. Washa'be ga'xe (washa'be, "and official staff;" ga'xe, "to make"). This grade consisted
in procuring the materials necessary to make the washa'be, an ornamented staff carried
by the leader of the annual buffalo hunt. These materials were a dressed buffalo skin, a
crow, two eagles, a shell disk, sinew, a pipe with an ornamented stem, and, in olden times,
a cooking vessel of pottery, replaced in modern times by a copper kettle. The money value
of these articles, rated by ordinary trading terms, was not less than $100 to $130. The
performance of the first grade four times would constitute the highest act possible for a
man. No Omaha has ever accomplished this act so many times.
Second. Bon'wakithe ("I caused the herald to call"). The aspirant requested the tribal herald to summon the Ni'kagahi sha'be together with the keeper of the ritual used in filling
the Sacred Pipes, from the Inshta'çunda clan, to a feast. Besides providing for the feast,
gifts of leggings, robes, bows and arrows, and tobacco were required as gifts for the
guests. If it chanced that the aspirant for honors was not on friendly terms with the keeper
of the ritual, or if from any other motive the keeper desired to check the man's ambition, it
lay in his power to thwart it by allowing the pipes to remain unfilled, in which case the gifts
and feast went for nothing.
Third. U'gashkegthon ("to tether a horse"). A man would make a feast for the Ni'kagahi
sha'be and tie at the door of his tent a horse with a new robe thrown over it. The horse and
the robe were gifts to his guests. A man once gained renown by "counting" seven acts of
this grade performing four in one day.
Fourth. Gaçi'ge nonshton wakithe (gaçi'ge, "marching abreast;" nonshton, "to halt;" wakithe,
"to make or cause", "causing the people to halt." This act was possible only during the annual hunt. As the people were moving, the Sacred Pole and the governing chiefs in advance, a man would bring a horse or a new robe and present it to the Pole. The gift was
appropriated by the Waxthe'xeton subgenus of the Hon'ga, who had charge of the Pole.
During this act the entire tribe halted, while the herald proclaimed the name of the giver.
This act should be repeated four times in one day.
Fifth. Te thishke' wakithe (te, "buffalo;" thishke', "to untie;" wakithe, "to make or cause"),
"causing the Sacred White Buffalo Hide to be opened and shown." During this ceremony of
exhibiting the White Buffalo Hide a shell disk or some other article of value was presented
to the Hide, the gifts becoming the property of the Waxthe'beton subgenus of the Hon'ga,
who had charge of this sacred object. This act had to be repeated four times in one day.
Sixth. Wa't'edonbe (wa, "things having power and purpose;" t'e, "dead;" donbe, "to see").
This act consisted in taking gifts to the family of a chief when a death occurred. The costliest donation remembered to have been made under this class was on the occasion of the
death of the son of old Big Elk, who died of smallpox in the early part of the nineteenth
7

century, when a fine horse on which was spread a bearskin was offered in honor of the
dead.
Seventh. When a person had been killed accidentally or in anger the chiefs took the Sacred Tribal Pipes to the kindred of the man, accompanied by gifts, in order to prevent any
revengeful act. All those who contributed toward these gifts could "count" them as belonging to the seventh grade. If the aggrieved party smoked the pipe and accepted the gifts,
bloodshed was averted and peace maintained in the tribe.
All of the gifts constituting these seven grades were made to the chiefs of the governing
council in recognition of their authority. They were for a definite purpose — to enable the
giver to secure entrance into the order of Ni'kagahi sha'be whenever a vacancy should occur
in that body.
It will be noticed that the act constituting the first grade differed from the other six in that
it was not a direct gift made to the chiefs, but was connected with the ceremonial staff of
the leader of the annual buffalo hunt. It was, however, a recognition of authority, an authority which held the people in order and made it possible for each family to secure its
supply of food and clothing. It was therefore, in its intrinsic character, in harmony with the
purpose of the other six graded within'ethe.
Waba'hon, designated an act not belonging to the regular within'ethe, but esteemed as a
generous deed that redounded to the credit of the doer. The term means "to raise or push
up," and refers to placing a deer, buffalo, or elk on its breast and putting bits of tobacco
along its back, all of which signified that the hunter had dedicated the animal as a gift to
the chiefs. A chief could not receive such a gift unless he had performed the act of waba'hon four times. If he had not performed the acts and desired to receive the gift he could
call on his near of kin to help him to "count." If he was able to "count" four waba'ho n himself, he could then keep the entire animal for his own use.
In admitting a man to either order of chiefs his personal character was always taken into
consideration. If he was of a disputatious or quarrelsome nature no amount of gifts would
secure his election to the order of Ni'kagahi xu'de or make possible a place for him in the
Ni'kagahi sha'be. The maxim was: "A chief must be a man who can govern himself."

The Council of Seven Chiefs

T

he origin of this governing council as given in the Sacred Legend and elsewhere has
been recounted and the change from the early form of hereditary membership mentioned. The institution of a small body representing the entire tribe, to have full control of
the people, to settle all contentions, and to subordinate all factions to a central authority,
was an important governmental movement. The central authority, was an important governmental movement. The credential of this authority both for the act of its creation and
for the exercise of its functions was the presence and ceremonial use of the two Sacred
Tribal Pipes. The two stood for the fundamental idea in the dual organization of the
hu'thuga. This was recognized also in the ceremonial custody and preparation of the Pipes.
The keeping of them belonged to the Inke'çabe clan of the southern (earth) side of the
hu'thuga; the office of ceremonially filling the Pipes, making them ready for use, was
vested in the Inshta'çunda clan of the northern (upper) realm of the hu'thuga, representative of the abode of the supernatural forces to which man must appeal for help. Through
the ceremonies and use of the two Sacred pipes the halves of the hu'thuga were welded,
as it were, the Pipes thus becoming representative of the tribe as a whole. The prominence
given to the Pipes, as the credential of the "old men," as their authority in the creation of
8






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